People go through many changes in their lives. Even though their lives go on, experiencing the loss of a partner can be one of the most traumatic events in someone’s life. After losing their partner, older people can experience very intense emotions of loneliness, as through the years our social network usually gets smaller, they retire and start losing touch with the people they once worked with, and even the range of activities outside their home decreases. When discussing loneliness, it is important to focus on the individual experiencing of emotions, how older people define loneliness and whether they feel that way. The purpose of our study is to examine how the death of a partner affects the loneliness of older people and how this can be best observed. Furthermore, we researched to what degree the social networks of older people change after losing their partner, what changes in the lives of older people after losing a partner, what kind of professional support and help from their family do the older people receive when they feel lonely after the death of their partner and how can this field be improved. It was determined that older people do not live in fear of death. Couples who lived in a good relationship feel much lonelier after losing their partner. To avoid feeling lonely some older people decided to live in a home for older people, which boosted their social network. The majority of the older people that lost their partners do not know the existing forms of help that are provided to the relatives of the deceased. In order to avoid feeling lonely after losing their partner, we suggest the relatives ought to visit them more frequently and pay more attention to their personal wellbeing and needs.
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